SynopsisIn 1943, the Japanese film 'The Tiger of Malaya' was released. Based on the life story of Tani Yutaka, a Japanese man who lived on the east coast of Malaya, the film portrayed him as a patriotic agent who liberated the Malay natives from British imperialists and Chinese capitalists.

Now, more than 70 years later, a group of actors are going to reenact scenes from the film. Real Malay actors will replace the 'brown face' Japanese actors in the original. Chinese actors will play antagonists who are 'less evil'. A Japanese actor will try to find a space of performance between the wartime propaganda classifications of heroes, villains and victims.

As they comically attempt to 'correct' history, they discover how their identities are sustained not by the accuracies of history but the stubbornness of myths.

Alfian Saat's Bulan Madu — A Double Bill as part of the Malay CultureFest 2018

SynopsisAnak Bulan Di Kampung Wa' Hassan This monodrama tells the story of Kampung Wa’ Hassan, the last Malay kampung (village) to fall victim to Singapore's efforts at modernisation. Far from a nostalgic trip down memory lane to a romanticised Malay kampung, this is a journey of discovery of the true worth of a village, filled with real-life characters in all their rawness, and the true loss in the dispossession of it.

SynopsisMadu Dua Two women – one young, the other less so - share a house, a kitchen, a pot, and a husband. They talk, discovering frustrations and claustrophobia in a space each expected to own completely. Madu Dua is a tale of a polygamous marriage which dispenses altogether the male narrative in heady bouts of spite and verve, pain and regret. It explores the discomforted space in the negotiation of religion and the self and exposes the complexity of the female (Malay/Muslim) psyche.

Performed in: Malay with English surtitlesEstimated Duration: 2.5 hours, with intermission

POTONG

Written by Johnny Jon JonDirected by Irfan Kasban

21 - 25 March 2018

—

SynopsisAdam is sent away by his mother, Siti, to undergo the rite of passage of every Singaporean Son, National Service. Except, he was born in Australia and has no sense of what Singapore means to him. His journey back 'home' is further complicated by Siti's zealous need for him to reconnect the ties and links that she severed a long time ago when she left, and experience the quintessential rite of passage of every Singaporean Malay Son, circumcision.

Aided by an Uncle and Grandmother who are not sure of themselves, and an out of sorts "Maker of Men" Doctor, Adam journeys to be a man. Potong is a play exploring the themes of identity and memory.

—

Cast: Farah Ong, Mohd Fared Jainal, Munah Bagharib, Salif Hardie

Performed in English & Malay, with English surtitles.

—

*Early bird tickets available now until 18 February!

Early bird promo: Purchase a pair of tickets for $40!

Do note that you may purchase only one pair of tickets per transaction, multiple transactions needed for purchase of more than two tickets. Thank you for your understanding.

Standard ticket: $25

Get your tickets at:

Enquiries: general@ekamatra.org.sg

2017

ANGKAT(as part of the Ekamatra's Artist Residency Program)

Salma, a National Idol hopeful, is asked to alter her image so as to appeal to the masses. As compromises are made, she starts to question her identity, creating a clash between her roots and her upbringing as an adopted child.

Salmah and her adoptive mother Khadijah are made to face the consequences of their actions in the past, present and inevitable future. Will the forces of fate and nature tear them apart or bring them closer together?

MAIN2(AS PART OF PESTA RAYA 2017)

The lives of six pained characters are interwoven together, each checkered by cycles of abuse—physical, emotional and psychological—and rocked by violence, self-inflicted and otherwise. This includes sobering episodes of incest, domestic abuse, lifelong drug abuse and sexual violence. Underlying this is a deep, simple yearning for happiness and love that they share.

Main² was commissioned by Esplanade for the very first Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts in 2002, and was the first Malay language play to be staged at the arts centre. Written by Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit, it is a warts-and-all portrayal of the Malay community and its social strata, framed by the concept of main, literally meaning “the games we play”.

This new staging is directed by Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit, and features a new cast made up of Al-Matin Yatim, Farez Najid, Farhana M Noor, Hatta Said, Munah Bagharib and Suhaili Safari. Bear witness as each character find themselves in “transit” after lifelong games of chasing happiness.

Dates & Times:

20 – 23 July 2017 Thursday – Sunday

Thur – Sun: 8pm Sat – Sun: 3pm

Duration: 1hr 40mins (No Intermission)

Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio

Performed in Malay with English Subtitles. Contains some mature content. Recommended for 16 years and above.

HOPE (HARAP) (AS PART OF ESPLANADE PRESENTS: THE STUDIOS)

“A badly decomposed corpse was found floating on Singapore River early this morning…”

Hope, the root word of “hoping”, “hopeful”, “hopefulness”, and the like; a word that serves as the thrust for the condition, the needs, the wants of each and every human being.

A father, a mother, to a daughter; and two friends. Human beings, each one of them. Desperate, dejected, whose fates remain undecided, whose dreams remain unrealised, and whose ambitions remain undefined, only because deep in their hearts, the seeds of hope were sown.

Probably, without hope, without hoping, without being hopeful, their lives would be untainted, unscathed, undamaged, and not naked; devoured to the skeletal frames of their existence.

First produced in 1994, this version of Haresh Sharma’s Hope is adapted into Malay by Zulfadli Rashid. Hope (Harap) is directed by Mohd Fared Jainal and features a stellar cast which includes Sani Hussin, Siti Hajar Abd Gani, Fir Rahman, Hirzi Zulkiflie and Nur Zakiah Bte Mohd Fared.

Dates & Times:

6 – 9 Apr 2017 Thu – Sun

Thu – Sat: 8pm Sat – Sun: 3pm

Duration: 1hr 30mins (no intermission)

Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio

2016

GRC (GENG REBUT CABINET) (AS PART OF SINGAPORE THEATRE FESTIVAL 2016)

A political party is fielding its candidates in a five-member Group Representation Constituency. Among them are a Minister, an army Brigadier General, a high-flying lawyer and a grassroots organiser. But their team is not complete without a minority candidate. This candidate has to be likeable. He or she has to be a respected member of the community. And most importantly, he or she has to be…Chinese.

Teater Ekamatra is proud to present ‘GRC’, a brand new play written by celebrated playwright Alfian Sa'at, directed by Mohd Fared Jainal. The play examines what it means to be a minority in a topsy-turvy farcical world where the disempowered are now empowered, where the invisible now have their faces plastered everywhere—especially during campaign season. Who defines whether someone is a member of a minority? Who sets the standards for a 'model minority' and a 'problem minority'? And are some countries ready for a minority Prime Minister?

HUTANG BELANTARA

A play on the word from the Malay phrase “hutan” which means “forest”, Hutang Belantara –The Expansive Debt is a multi-disciplinary mono-drama centred around a seed of discord, owning and owing, and the fallen.

This Staging is part of the public programme of Amar Kanwar: The Sovereign Forest and the festivities of Gillman Barracks 4th Anniversary Celebrations - Art After Dark & Art Day Out!

PROJEK SUITCASE 2016

In 2003, Teater Ekamatra created a project with a poor theatre format involving one actor and one suitcase in a performance space. The idea was to show how a play could be effective with minimal setup, allowing actors to captivate the audience simply through storytelling, marrying words with motion.

This year's installation of PROJEK SUITCASE will see 21 established artists from the industry presenting eight, 20-minute plays, based on the theme, Excavation. Equipped with only their suitcases, the storytellers will spin their tales on the grounds of Malay Heritage Centre and dare us to follow them on their journeys, excavating forgotten pasts and alternative histories.

All 8 plays will be showing every night, 2 plays at a time, from 30 Sep - 4 Oct. This means, on any given night, an audience member will be able to catch a maximum of 4 plays. Thus, we also have a 2-day pass for audience members who would like to catch all 8 monologues!

Projek Suitcase will be presented in Malay. Booklets with English surtitles will be provided.

2015

GRC (GENG REBUT CABINET)

A political party is fielding its candidates in a five-member Group Representation Constituency. Among them are a Minister, an army Brigadier General, a high-flying lawyer and a grassroots organiser. But their team is not complete without a minority candidate. This candidate has to be likeable. He or she has to be a respected member of the community. And most importantly, he or she has to be…Chinese.

Teater Ekamatra is proud to present ‘GRC’, a brand new play written by celebrated playwright Alfian Sa'at, directed by Mohd Fared Jainal. The play examines what it means to be a minority in a topsy-turvy farcical world where the disempowered are now empowered, where the invisible now have their faces plastered everywhere—especially during campaign season. Who defines whether someone is a member of a minority? Who sets the standards for a 'model minority' and a 'problem minority'? And are some countries ready for a minority Prime Minister?

PROJEK SUITCASE 2015

In 2003, Teater Ekamatra created a project with a poor theatre format involving one actor and one suitcase in a performance space. The idea was to show how a play could be effective with minimal setup, allowing actors to captivate the audience simply through storytelling, marrying words with motion.

This year's installation of PROJEK SUITCASE will see 21 established artists from the industry presenting eight, 20-minute plays, based on the theme, Excavation. Equipped with only their suitcases, the storytellers will spin their tales on the grounds of Malay Heritage Centre and dare us to follow them on their journeys, excavating forgotten pasts and alternative histories.

All 8 plays will be showing every night, 2 plays at a time, from 30 Sep - 4 Oct. This means, on any given night, an audience member will be able to catch a maximum of 4 plays. Thus, we also have a 2-day pass for audience members who would like to catch all 8 monologues!

Projek Suitcase will be presented in Malay. Booklets with English surtitles will be provided.

5IVE

5IVE is the graduation showcase for the first cohort of Teater Ekamatra's Playwright-Director Mentorship Programme (PDMP), the anticipated follow-up to 1234 staged last February. The showcase presents a double bill of plays by Hazwan Norly and Nabilah Said, accompanied by set design by Moses Tan. During the course of the programme, these young artists have received guidance from theatre veterans such as Zizi Azah, Irfan Kasban, Mohd Fared Jainal, and Alfian Sa’at, and hope to forge their own paths in the industry in the future.

2014

PARADISE

In the city of Kesamet, all of life's quibbles have been solved. Energy, food and water are 100% recyclable. Happiness is found in a pill, tears are non-existent. People get to choose everything, even death. Dan works in an Orgone factory by day and dreams kaleidoscopic dreams by night. Drifting in satiated time, he tells his only friend Talulah he's ready to die. By chance, he meets Mag and in her blind eyes sees a haunting paradise. One that will bring him deep into the past, uproot his present and fracture the future.

PARADISE will be showing at the Drama Centre Black Box on 4 - 7 December 2014. Tickets are available on SISTIC.

THE WASTELAND

THE WASTELAND by MEREKA

SYNOPSISWhat is the meaning of life? We live. We lie. We die. We who are at a constant state of war, never fail to hope for peace: “Shantih Shantih Shantih” we cried. We look for answers. We move forward in circles. We take sides in chaos. We remember what we want. We find comfort in banality. We give. We sympathise. We control. We are the waste land…

BRIEFThe Wasteland is set to be an immersive multi-disciplinary piece inspired by T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land – considered ‘one of the most important modernist poems of the 20th century’.

11 members of Teater Ekamatra’s youth incubation wing MEREKA seek to transform GREYMATTER with curated installations as part of their graduation performance.

NO SUBSTANCE

Laboratory glassware mounted on copper pipes will take pride of place at renowned sound artist Zul Mahmod’s upcoming exhibition NO SUBSTANCE. The installation, held in Teater Ekamatra’s Greymatter Studio at Aliwal Arts Centre, is a continuation of Zul’s first-phase exhibition at Yeo Workshop in Gillman Barracks earlier this year.

From just five pieces in Phase One, Zul has expanded his exhibition to a 25-piece orchestra capable of playing 127 different notes. So far, he has written eight compositions for the musical sculpture, which will be performed while the works are on display.

The inspiration for NO SUBSTANCE, Zul says, came from the urban landscape of “developing cities,” which he describes as resembling “infrastructure without a soul.” He envisions NO SUBSTANCE as a meditation on the place of the human element in the big city. “The infrastructure, who is it for, really?” he asks. “Is it for us or for the economy? I mean, you need both, but there has to be a balance.”

The materials Zul employs in NO SUBSTANCE point to his preoccupation with the theme of “a manufactured city” devoid of people or soul. “In terms of the sound pieces, it’s empty, it’s just glass,” he says. “There’s no tone or melody to this piece.” Similarly, he eschewed the mass-produced wooden stools he used as display-stands in the earlier iteration of NO SUBSTANCE, favouring instead stands that he made himself with copper pipes of various dimensions. Although this required more time and effort, he finds himself satisfied by the liberty of transcending the limitations of mass-produced supplies.

As an innovative sound artist known for his bold design choices, Zul is ambitious about future possibilities for the next incarnation of NO SUBSTANCE, such as having the sound-pieces triggered by a dancer’s movements or controlled remotely by an iPad. “Usually, when it comes to theatre, you have the script, directions, then you come up with the set and the sound,” Zul explains. His method, on the other hand, reverses this process and calls attention to the technical nature of theatre practice.

NO SUBSTANCE is the inaugural showcase of Teater Ekamatra’s new two-month artist residency programme, which the company’s artistic director Fared Jainal believes will “expand its theatrical vocabulary” by incorporating new multimedia forms and disciplines. The exhibition will run from 28 to 30 August 2014, at 28 Aliwal Street, #02-10. The studio space will be open to the public from noon to 7pm, followed by a presentation with Zul at 8pm each evening.

A BEAUTIFUL CHANCE ENCOUNTER OF A SEWING MACHINE AND AN UMBRELLA ON AN OPERATING TABLE

“the systematic exploitation of two or more intrinsically incompatible realities on a surface which is manifestly inappropriate for the purpose and the spark of poetry which leaps across the gap as these two realities are brought together.” Max Ernst

2013

KAKAK KAU PUNYA LAKI

Four of the Selamat sisters are modern and successful: the wife of a prominent banker, a Maths teacher, a housing agent and a stewardess.

Their eldest sister, Mas, is something else altogether. She is superstitious, old-fashioned, and smells like damp clothes. She sells curry puffs in front of MRT stations and collects magazines filled with stories of mystery illnesses, pontianak sightings and magic stones.

One day, Maslindah announces to her sisters that she has finally fallen in love. Her sisters are intrigued and alarmed, since they are convinced that Maslindah would remain a spinster forever. As they try to discover more about Maslindah’s mysterious boyfriend, they are forced to confront their own prejudices towards Maslindah.

‘Kakak Kau Punya Laki’ is a play that raises questions about black sheep, outcasts and sociopaths. What exactly is the dividing line between normalcy and deviance? Who ultimately decides where to draw that line?

94:05

94:05, a monologue, invites the audience to the life and memories of Ahmad bin Abdullah, who struggles with his health, where death appears to be more imminent with each passing day.

He recites Surah 94 – Relief, focusing on 94:05 “So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief”, and shares stories of the Prophet Muhammad from memory, to ease himself, and maybe even find a reason to want to continue to live.

First staged in M1 Fringe Festival 2012 as part of Irfan Kasban's trilogy, Hantaran Buat Mangsa Lupa, with Sani Hussin as Ahmad.

This is Mohd Fared Jainal's first performance in a monologue after such illustrious years of being in theatre.

Adil, whose name in Malay stands for ‘fair’ or ‘just’, turns 18, and receives a letter to serve his country. He is posted as a law-enforcer, where after months of training,he meets a team of men, and women, who live to serve and protect. Adil notices their resemblance to Angels, who are believed to carry no emotions, no desires, only a medium in administration.

Not prepared for the ‘real world’ of law-enforcement, Adil finds himself learning and re-learning several ideologies and skills while carrying out his duties. All his preconceived notions were debunked as he finds truth behind faces of ‘faceless’ men and women who make a living by being fair and just.

Tahan follows Adil’s journey to the discovery of the life of angels in prominent disguises, and the discovery of himself, in a land where no man is above the law.

2012

NOT COUNTED

One hostage. One perpetrator. Two victims.

Written and directed by ZIZI AZAHStarring GERALD CHEW & NAJIB SOIMAN

Benjamin Lik drives a BMW 7 series coupe, lives in a 3-floored bungalow in Upper Thomson, has a private shower in his office. Muhammad Ashraf drives a yellow Hyundai Sonata, lives in a maisonette that is about to be repossessed, has two estranged daughters and an absent son.

Two men who live in completely different worlds, cross paths only when Ashraf storms Benjamin’s office one afternoon. Barricading the door, he demands a job in Benjamin’s company. With no means to escape, Benjamin is forced to confront truths that hide under the guise of meritocracy.

Teater Ekamatra is proud to present Not Counted, part of our Main Season 2012-2013. Not Counted explores how the growth of a nation can make or break a man.

Not Counted will receive its world premier in China as part of Singapore's representation at Journey, a festival-cultural exchange platform hosted by Penghao Theatre. It will be held from 10 to 16 December in Beijing, China. This is done in partnership with Drama Box. The play will then return to Singapore and be staged at Drama Centre Black Box.

THIS PLACEMENT

No space to run, no place to hide. No. No. No. No memories to hold, no memories to be told.

No eye to eye. No heart to heart. No fires. No one. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody really here.

Just songs of migrating birds passing by. Just symphonies of metal, concrete and glass.Just echoes of silent discontent. This content, displaced."

This Placement is a site-specific work, which brings artists and audiences together to examine and explore the architecture of home.

Gathering inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities and Kuo Pao Kun’s Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral, it discovers that for a city to remain a home,one has to travel away, to reinforce its ideals, making the idea of home even more vivid.

With the charismatic Former Geylang Fire Station as the point of confluence, artists and audience will create a micro-city to explore their displacement through collaborative work, promising to redefine the theatrical experience.

Performances will be on 27-29th September 2012, 8pm- 9.30pm, at 29 Paya Lebar Road, Former Geylang Fire Station.

MENTAH

MENTAH features 4 new works by the participants of our Playwriting Mentorship Programme (PMG). Participants have been under the guidance of Teater Ekamatra’s Artistic Director, Zizi Azah Abdul Majid during the PMG, held weekly since December 2011.

In the spirit of 'Art Inspiring Art' works from this showcase were inspired by a trip to the museum where several notable paintings became stimulus to developing their work.

MENTAH

16 & 17 March 2012 8pm17 March 2012 3pmThe Substation Theatre

HANTARAN BUAT MANGSA LUPA

Hantaran Buat Mangsa Lupa is a trilogy of plays inspired by the three main events leading to the establishment of Islam. Paired with the severely poetic nature of the Malay language, Hantaran offers a dimension that faith excludes and questions. The first two plays – Genap 40 and W.C. – were previously staged to small audiences, and this presentation marks the completion of the trilogy with the premiere of 94:05 alongside the other two.

THURSDAY 16 - SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2012, 8PMSATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY, 3PM

BLEEDING GRACE

Bleeding Grace is the story of two pedestrian lives. They meet, they laugh, they make a promise. She has a child, he begins to question what he wants. They take opposite sides, they cry, they break promises. A child dies, life becomes a void. In the horror of disillusion and the sorrow of death, how does life carry on?

ANGOTTA 2000

From mid-wife to circumciser, from teacher to undertaker, Anggota 2000, curated by Irfan Kasban, is a graduation show from the participants of our youth programme, MEREKA.

The festival involves various multidisciplinary works revolving around the title theme. This year, the theme instigates the participants to rediscover a part of the Malay culture that has been given very little attention. Before these ‘Malay’ occupations completely dissipate into oblivion, we pay our respects and rediscover them in a brand new light.

Come join the participants as they explore the realm of 'exclusively Malay' occupations through a site-specific performance that boasts little/no electricity. Anggota 2000 showcases 12 short plays and installations written and directed by our very own MEREKA youths.

PARIAH

After critically acclaimed 'Nadirah' which won best script in Life! Theatre Awards 2010, Alfian Sa'at returns with... 'Pariah' the second installation of Alfian's tribute to the late Yasmin Ahmad.

Synopsis

Melur is a Form 5 student studying in Kuala Lumpur. When she hangs out with her friends, Hafiz, Mahesh and Kahoe, they look like the poster children of 1Malaysia, a slogan celebrating multiracialism and nationhood.

One day, Melur discovers that a page from a novel that was lying around in her room has been torn out. The trouble is that the novel belongs to her schoolteacher mother, who uses it as a literature text. Investigating further, Melur realizes that the page that has been torn out contains the word ‘pariah’, deemed controversial by the Indian community.

The only suspects are the three boys, who had visited Melur’s house during the school holidays. As they begin to read it, however, the four students start to question some of the histories presented in the book, histories that they are supposed to claim as their own.

Who are the indigenes and who are the immigrants? Is there a grain of truth in even the most repellent stereotype? What power does a word have to shape reality? And is a civic nationalism possible in any society obsessed with race?

Inspired by Yasmin Ahmad’s final film, ‘Talentime’, as well as Abdullah Hussain’s novel, ‘Interlok’, Pariah is a timely exploration of how identities are contested in a young, pluralistic nation. Funny, provocative and moving, Pariah asks urgent questions about love, home and belonging.

Written by ALFIAN SA'ATDirected by JO KUKATHAS

Featuring an all Malaysian Cast

Farah RaniGregory SzeIedil Putra AlaudinMervyn Raj

Performed in Malay with English Surtitles.Presented by Teater Ekamatra with support from Instant Cafe Theatre.

23-25 June 2011, 8pm25 June 2011, 3pm

BERSENDALOKA

Bersendaloka is colloquial Malay for ‘coming together to share’. A triple-bill of plays written and directed by young emerging theatre enthusiasts who'd like to share their stories.

Featuring three different theatre disciplines, and voices of Malay Theatre, Bersendaloka promises to engage and excite theatre-goers of all ages.

Potret by Agnes Christina

Potret tells a story about a sister and her brother who try to construct their father’s image through a series of photograph found in their father’s suitcase.

Each photograph tells a story. But do these stories explain who this father is? Photographs fade, but memories don’t, do they?

Potret features engaging visuals in the form of multimedia as a backdrop in this intimate two actor play. Potret is about finding truth.

Performed by: Nina Mareta Kosasih & Clement Dian Perdana Darmawan

Singgah Sana by MEREKA

Awan knows not the burden of his presence, for his mother who adopted him, tells him nothing of his father's legacy. She instead urges him to spread his wings and leave the island, Singgah Sana, as soon as he reaches adulthood.

Awan notices that the community grows restless as an impending danger comes closer. His hunger swells beyond comprehension, and he sets out to find his true self. Singgah Sana is a play about finding self within community

Performed by the MEREKA 13-actor ensemble

W.C. by Irfan Kasban

Two men in a toilet cubicle. They talk, not a alot. They touch, not too much. Seemingly, only the four partitions bear witness to their awkward dispositions. They struggle to find comfort, space and invisible walls to transcend.

W.C., a piece about finding comfort, features a stella cast sharing an awkward unchartered space. Toying with the versatility of the Malay language, W.C. promises to excite the senses.